Book Review: It All Changed in an Instant

Legend has it, Ernest Hemingway was sitting in a bar (predictable!) when a fan of his approached him and commented on how well he can tell a story in only a few words. He then challenged Hemingway to tell a story in the fewest amount of words possible. Hemingway shot back with “For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn”. Whether this story is true or just once of those great Hemingway myths, it is clear that a full story can be told in only 6 words. SMITH Magazine decided to use this as a premise for a project in which they asked their readers to write their autobiography/memoir in only 6 words. Only expecting a hundred or so responses, the editor of SMITH Magazine was astounding when hundreds of thousands of people wrote in. Among these entries were some famous people such as Stephen Colbert, Alison Bechdel, Yogi Berra’s granddaughter and others. These responses were then published in four different books two of which are just overall collections of the 6 word memoirs, one directed towards teens, and one specifically on love and heartbreak.

The entries are almost all different and range from the funny to the poignant. I laughed out loud when I read “failed at love, won at scrabble” and was incredibly moved by a memoir about a woman who was raped and was unable to move on making her feel as if her life was useless. I smiled at the sentence “awkward girl takes chances. Fun ensures” and even wished that I had written it! Interspersed with text memoirs are graphic memoirs which brings an interesting aspect to the book.

Sadly, many peer reviewers have not been kind to this book and have commented that it is just another “coffee table” or “doctor’s office” book. I could not disagree more. I thought that the majority of the content was extremely moving. Though each page only has about six entries, it still took the same amount of time to read as a traditional novel because you have to truly think about each memoir. I believe many reviewers view this book as being similar to PostSecret, FML, My Life is Average or Text from Last Night books. However, I believe there is a HUGE difference between these two kinds of books. I view PostSecret, FML, My Life is Average, and Texts from Last Night books as being insipid, written by frat boys/attention seekers, and overall pointless. The websites from which these book entries are culled have no authority or scholarly background. Personally, I view them as being sounding boards for those who are too lazy and/or stupid to set up an actual blog. Therefore, the books that are produced from these websites are equally useless and really have no point besides that of being funny (though even that is open for interpretation). The 6 word memoirs actually have depth and each entry has a certain amount of introspection. I found memoirs that are similar to those that I would write and some that I thought were startling which led me to think about how I would present myself in only 6 words. Being that it is sponsored and published by SMITH Magazine, it has a level of credibility about it that other books do not. It also makes people want to be more creative which is always a positive side effect to any book.

Overall, I think it is a great book and a fantastic project. I encourage every reader to get this book from your local library and then write your own! In the meantime, I am going to read it again.

-DLP